Article display and conveying equipment



Patented Feb. 1936 i UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE aoson Annan; DISPLAY Am ooNvEYNG Walton rr. Bodine, City, Mo; q Application March 29, 1935, Serial No. 13,663

'5 Clalms. i `(oi. 211-121 This invention relates'to display and conveying equipment of the type which might be empioyed in retail stores or the like for the purpose of carrying various articles of merchandise, and the primary objectof the invention is the provision of such equipment having novel and unique means for supporting the plurality -of articlecarrying shelves so that they are maintained in a suhstantially horizontal plane while being carried through a circumscribing path of travel by spaced-apart, endless chains that may be motivated and caused to form paths of travel having desired lines. i

'One of the important aims of this invention is the provislon of article-display and conveying equipment that may be employed in displaying or storing articles conserving space to the extent that store rooms having especially high ceilings might have the walls thereof completely occupied byshow cases wherein is provided the mobile shelving equipment which is contemplated by this invention.

It is well known in the art of 'article display that only that section of the merchandise which is substantially on the eye level commands the attention of the prospective purchaser and if sections of the shelves of the show case could be progressively brought to thatsaid level, the appeal would be increased and the advertising ability of the equipment made appreciably greater.

This inventlon further aims to provide means i for making accessible articles that may be kept v in a display case which is extended' from floor to ceiling, andwhere such a case is utilized, it is apparent that it becomes `a valuable fixture for storage purposes in that halt of the volume of stored articles may be kept in a small space directly in front of a wall and between the said wall and the other half of said stored articles, but yet made quickly available because of the fact that all of the shelves of the equipment are movable around to an accessible position.

This invention aims to provide unique means for maintainng each of a series mounted shelvesin a horizontal plane `as they are moved around wheels that support endless chains. v The means her-ein illustrated embody the invention, but the specific nature of said means might well be altered without the concepts of the invention.

The usual form of show case which the present invention is adapted to improve is one .having a true vertical or slightly inclined face and for purpose of illustration, these types of display and departing from and which is advantageous in i of pivotally storage cases have' been set down in thedrawings, wherein; v i e Flgure l is a vertical, sectional view through display and conveying equipment embodying this invention. y r i v 5 Fig. `2 is a front elevation of the same, 'with parts removed for clearness. i v

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary, sectional view through the uppermost portion of the display equipment.

Fig. 4 is a sectional view taken along line o IV IV of Fig. 3. i a

q Fig. 5 is another sectional view taken along line V-V of Fig. 3.

Fig. 6 is a front elevation of a modified form of display case embodying this inventlon, and, i Flg. 7 is a vertical, sectional view through the case taken on line VII VII of Fi'g. 6. i

In describingthe invention, reference will first be made to the equipment'as illustrated in Figs. 1 to 5 incluslve. "I'his equipment comprises a 20 case ill of any ordinary construction, which may have any number of suitable openings' covered or not, and which has a vertical, central parti-c tion I2 that extends from apoint spaced up:- wardly from the bottom of case I ll to a point '25 spaced downwardly from the top thereof as illus trated inFig. 1. i y I q q The ends of case lo have vertical guide faces |4 and IS, between which the ends of the piurality of shelves s are adapted to ride as the 30 shelves are carried through their paths of travel. An upperand a lower wheel in the form ofva sprocket whe'el 20 and 22 respectively support an endless chain 24, upon which is pivotally mounted eachjof a plurality of shelves s. These 5 wheels 2!!` and 22 are rotatably mounted and the lower ones should be ,mounted upon a trans-` verse shaft 26, to' which may be attached any suitable source or power for the purpose'of simultaneou'sly driving the two endless chains 9 24, 'one of which is located adjacent each end respectively of case lil. These chains 24 are in t opposed, spaced-apart relation and arearranged v in like opposed paths of travel so that shelves I& might be properly supported.

`an end wall`28 thereon, and a 'shoulder 30 is pro- By virtue of the pivotal connection between shelf and chains, the weight upon shelves [8 assistsin holding'the shelf in a` horizontal plane as itis being `carriecl through the rectili'aear 6 Each shelf s has 45 portion of the circumscribing path of travel through which each shelf is carried. Reference to Fig. 5 indicates the manner in which the ends 28 of each shelf s is conflned between guide faces il and s which precludes any objectionable swinging. Rails 36 may be provided along the longitudinal edges of each shelf s to prevent articles from sliding off the shelf as it is traveling.

The edge ofpartition I2 prohibits an observer from seeing the two tiers of shelves and when standing in front of case ill, the shelves will pass across the line of vision one at a time at a rate of speed dependent upon the particular driving means employed. As the shelves s approach upper wheel 20 they are withdrawn from between guide faces II and IS because the letter terminated as illustrated in Fig. 1. Faces s converge to a point 38 which allows each of the shelves i& to freely move up and over wheel 20.

Means is provided for precluding tipping on the part ofthe shelves as they move over wheel 20. This means comprises a contacting plate n having springs 42 for yieldably pressing the lower face thereof against shoulder '30 of each shelf as it presente itself. Contacting plate, shoulder, and shelf !8 are all in horizontal, parallel planes and this relation is maintained throughout the operation of the apparatus; To insure such relationship, linkage u is used. The ends of these closed links 44 are in slidable engagement with parallei guides 46, one of which iscarried on the upper surface of plates o, while the other is carried on the under side of the top of case o. As the shelf is carried around wheel 20, contacting plate 40 is lifted upwardly against the force'of springs 42 and whfle the shelves are out from between guide faces 14 and IG. they willbe held against any swinging motion.

In addition tothe unique means just set forth, this invention provides means for holding the shelves horizontal as they are.c'arried around the lower wheel 22 Thismeans is in the form of a' pair of parallel arms 48 pivotally joined to the bottomof case u as at 50 and interconnected by a head 52 which carries a post 54.

This post is in alignment with' the grooves 34 of the various shelves a when they are moved downwardly on one side of wheel 22 and post and groove interengage just as the shelf passes from between guide faces ll and s. As theshelves are carried around lower wheel 22, post and groove ll and 24 are in engagement and thereby any swinging movement on the part of the shelf being held is precluded. The shelf itself draws the post and arm structure over to the position shown in dotted lines of Fig. 1 and when the shelf is lifted from engagement with post 54, spring 50 wiilimmediately retrieve the postand make itready for engagement with the next succeeding shelf s. Thus it is seen that shelves il are maintained in a substantially horizontal plane throughout their path of travel i The structure illustrated in Figs. 6 and 'T is only slightly modified and embodies the invention as completely as does the other mechanism iilustrated in Figs. 1 to 5 inclusive; In this instance; case 10 has a pair of inclined sides and shelves 12 are carried by the endless chains 14 in precisely the same manner as before mentloned; Upper wheel 16 has the' same ,contacting plate, Bl the springs, 82 the links, and the' guides. Because of the forms of case 10, two lower wheels 86 are employed. A guide rail ss extends from one wheel' to the other and as the 2,oso,741

shelves are carried transversely across the case 10 the shoulder 90 'of each is immediately odlacent to the 'lower side of the rail u and is effective in precluding any swinging of the shelves as they pass thereunder.

It is obvious from the foregoing that the points of invention might be embodied in structures of wideiy varying characteristics and while two forms of display and conveying equipment bave been illustrated, it is desired to be limited only by the scope of the appended claims.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new and desired to be secured by Letters Patent is: a

1. Display and conveyi g equipment of the character described comprising a pair of opposed. spaced-apart, endless chains disposed in like circumscribing paths; shelves pivotally supportedby the chains therebetween; and means for maintaining the shelves in a horizontal plane as they are being carried through their entire path of travel, said shelves being successively directly engaged by yieldable contacting members as they travel through a portion of their path of travel to limit swinging of the shelves about their pivotal connections with the chains to an amount sumcient to allow reversal of the direction of travel of the chain at its point of connection with the respective shelf without tipping that shelf out of a horizontal plane.

2. Display and conveyins equipment of the character described comprising a case; a pair of opposed, spaced-apart, endless chains disposed in like circumscribing paths; shelves pivotally supported by the chains therebetween; wheels mounted on the case for supporting the chains; and means for maintaining each shelf in a horizontal plane as it is being carried around the wheels by the chains comprising a shoulder on the shelf having a face parallel to the shelf. contacting plate carried by the case, and means for yieldably maintaining the contacting plate horizontal as the shelf is drawn against the same.

3. Display and conveying equipment of the character described comprising a case; a pair of opposed. spaced-apart, endless chains in like circumscribing paths; shelves pivotally supported by the chains therebetween; wheels mounted on the case for supporting the chains;

and means for maintaining each shelf in a horizontal plane as it is-being carried around the wheel comprising a vertical groove provided in the shelf, a vertical post movably carried by the case, engageable in the groove, taining the post vertical and, thereby. the shelf horizontal as the shelf is drawn around the proximal wheel. r

4. Display and conveying equipment of the character described ccmprising a case; a pali' of opposed, spaced-apart, endless chains disposed in like circumscribing paths; shelves pivotally supported by the chains therebetween; wheels mounted on the case for supporting the chains; and means for maintaining each shelf in a horizontal plane as it is being carried around the wheel comprising a vertical groove provided in the shelf, a vertical post movably carried by .the case engageable in the groove, and means for maintaining the post vertical and, thereby. the

shelf horizontal as the shelf is drawn around the 'zo proximal wheel, said post being drawn along a portion of its path of travel by the shelf and having means for returning it to the point of beginning upon disengagement by the shelf.

5. Display and conveying and means for mainequipment of the' u 2,030,741 comprising a case; a? pair' character described of opposed, spaced-apart, endless chains disposed in like circumscrbing paths; an upper and a lower wheel for each chain rspectively mounted on the case around which the chain is adapted to travel; a shelf pivotally supported by the chans between the same; means for preventing appreciable swinging of the shelf as it is carried from one wheel toward the other; means for maintainlng the shelf in an upright position and horizontal plane as it is car'ied around the upper wheel comprisng a shoulder formed on the shelf,

" case engageable in a contacting plate carrled by the case for engaging the shoulder and yieldable means maintaning said Contacting relation as the shelf is drawn against the plate; and means for maintaining the shelf in a horizontal around the lower wheel comprising a groove provided in the shelf, a post movably carried by the the said lower wheel. i p t WALTON M. BODINE.

plane as it is being carried the groove, and means for yieldably maintaining the post in the groove engaging position as the shelf is drawn around 10 

